Fill out the IRB's application form, describing what you intend to do, the subject pool you intend to work with, and the measures you intend to employ to obtain informed consent and protect subjects' privacy. You'll also need to take an online course on the ethics of research on human beings. This course takes roughly three hours to complete. After you take the tutorial and pass the quiz, the site will provide a certificate of completion for you.

Application

The IRB must approve all research conducted at the College, or undertaken by members of the College community, that involves human beings as subjects. You must submit an application and obtain IRB approval before you start your research. The approval process can take several weeks, so please check the submission deadline and allow sufficient time!

Research ethics training

To apply for IRB approval, you must submit proof that you have completed research ethics training. This online course on the ethics of research involving human subjects takes about three hours to complete. This tutorial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, provides a certificate of completion; please submit this certificate with your application.

Application process

The application is an online form. You must be logged in to the Middlebury site to use this form. If you are unable to log in to access the form, please contact IRB@middlebury.edu.

To complete the application form, you will attach several files in electronic format. Before you start to fill in the form, be sure that you have all the attachments you need, in acceptable file formats (listed here). The application form will not accept files in other formats. If you need help accessing the form or converting files into a particular file format, please contact the Help Desk.

You can save a draft of your application at any time and return to it later. Please submit exact final versions of all application materials. Provide translations of all written materials that are not in English.

When you submit the application form, you will receive a confirmation copy by email. The IRB retrieves submissions as they are submitted and does not check them for updates. If you realize after you've submitted your application that you need to change it, please email the update to IRB@middlebury.edu.

If the IRB has any questions or comments on your proposal, you will be contacted by email. If we ask you to submit updated or modified documents, do not submit these new materials through the application form. Instead simply respond to the IRB's email by sending an email with any necessary attachments or clarifications to IRB@middlebury.edu.